200 women to be retested after CervicalCheck samples expire

HPV was found in the women's samples, but they were not sent on for cytology examination, within the timeline period of 42 days. Picture: Donna McBride 

CervicalCheck clinical director Dr Nóirín Russell has explained that it was Covid-19 social distancing restrictions that led to the delays in the sample processing centre which in turn led to the expiry to a number of samples.

Dr Russell said that the laboratory had to adhere to social distancing measures because of Covid-19 which meant fewer staff working and carrying out tests.

This delay led to the samples of 200 women going out of date, she added, so the women will have to be retested.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Dr Russell said that HPV was found in the women's samples, but they were not sent on for cytology examination, within the timeline period of 42 days.

The women will be contacted this week by letter, along with their GPs, to arrange retesting.

Dr Russell said it was very important that the women attend for the second test, but she emphasised that the presence of HPV in their sample did not mean they had cervical cancer.

It had been anticipated that there would be “huge” numbers coming forward for tests in 2021 after the service had to halt for a period in 2020 due to Covid-19, she said.

Around 100,000 people who should have been screened last year but were not.

“We had hoped the impact from Covid would be less.” 

“Huge capacity issues” had led to some samples going past the 42 day window for cytology examination. Most of the tests had taken place in April and May, with a few in March, added Dr Russell.

“We knew this was coming,” she said, which was why measures had been put in place to ensure supports were in place including a helpline for anyone concerned about their test which can be reached at 1800 45 45 55.

Every month data from the laboratory in Santry, Dublin is examined and, for various reasons such as technical delays, there will be a small number of samples that will have expired.

However, it had been noticed that during these monthly evaluations, that the number of samples expiring was increasing. 

This increase in expired samples led to a site visit and it was determined that it would be necessary to prepare the women so they would not panic when they received the letter.

The process will prioritise the repeat samples from the women in question, who will obviously be worried, she said.

Addressing the capacity issue would not be a “quick fix” as the Covid social distancing guidelines still had to be observed.

“We are trying to work very closely with the sample takers to steady the flow of samples so there are no peaks and troughs.”